First Impressions
by PSI-Triforce
Summary: Link's first impression of Midna is a reluctant ally, and Midna's first impression of Link is that he's a mighty hero, but both of them are wrong. LinkXMidna Friendship.


To say Link was confused would be an understatement. This morning, he had been a regular goat herder in Ordon Village, but now, so many new things had been happening. He was the hero of time, his ally was a Twili, and he had to rescue Colin and Ilia from a mysterious creature that kidnapped them. It had taken him long enough to finally get back into his human form, and Midna hadn't been the biggest help.

Sure, she freed him from his chains in the jail cell, and guided him to Princess Zelda, but when you're stuck in the shape of a wolf and are trying to stop yourself from falling off buildings to an instant death, it didn't help to have her constantly crooning sarcastic orders into his ears.

"_Hurry up, I'm waiting!"_

"_Do you even know where we are yet?"_

"_Well don't blame me if you're whole world is destroyed because you're too slow…"_

"Link, snap out of it sleepy head!"

The last sentence was in the present as Midna tapped Link on the shoulders and stopped his thoughts immediately.

"Get it together Link, Colin and Ilia won't save themselves!"

Link sighed and continued walking through the forests. For all he knew, Midna could have been a villain who was using him to get these strange 'Fused Shadows' that she wanted so much. Link had only beaten one temple, but it was enough for him to enhance his power. He remembered how proud it felt being addressed by the light spirit, as a hero, or the chosen one. Midna wasn't prone to complimenting him, or helping him fight the enemies he'd faced…

"Link! Concentrate!"

Midna flew right in front of Link's face and shrieked her message this time, forcing Link to gasp and take a step back. Midna just giggled and continued floating along the pathway. Link forced himself not to be annoyed, but just to be grateful that she hadn't used physical contact. Despite being from another world, she could still vaguely make contact with Link, only her touch felt chillingly cold. The first time she'd done it, it startled him badly, much to her amusement, but the joke ended when she tried it again while he was fighting. One deep cut in the arm later, Link had to hide his resentment when he had to fight through the forest temple with a sore wound.

"Earth to Link! Is anyone there?!"

This time, Midna didn't think twice about using her icy touch to waken up Link, as she grasped his arm tightly, and he fell back, clutching it.

"Don't do that, you know I hate it!" Link snapped, letting out some of the anger that had built up inside of him.

"Well, keep focussed this time," retorted Midna. "Here, maybe this will help."

Midna closed her eyes and slowly, her image changed to that if a small boy with big eyes and short blond hair. The image of the boy winked at Link before asking, in Midna's voice,

"Who am I?"

Link sighed and answered, "You're Colin."

Midna reluctantly grinned and uttered, "Correct!" before changing into a bigger, but thinner blond girl. "Now who am I?"

"You're Ilia." Link responded monotonously. He wasn't getting into the spirit of Midna's game.

"Who am I now?" asked Midna cheekily as she changed into a strange creature. It had the face of a pig, but the body of a human. A scrawny human, but human nonetheless. It had messy clothes and a few grimy locks of blond hair. Link looked bemused for a few seconds, before conceding defeat.

"I give up. Who is it?"

The figure turned back into Midna with a grin. "It's you!"

Midna closed her eyes and laughed at her joke, but Link had already started walking on ahead.

"Come on Link, it was just a joke… here, try and guess who I am this time!"

Link reluctantly turned around, and his mouth fell open in surprise. Gazing back at him was a beautiful woman with columns of long blond hair. Her mouth beamed a happy smile as Link wondered who this could possibly be. The woman turned around, and suddenly changed; but not into Midna. A man, with shorter hair, but vivid blue eyes stepped forwards and smiled towards Link. He seemed strangely familiar, but Link was sure he'd never seen him before. As the man turned back into Midna slowly, Link was baffled and intrigued.

"Who were they?"

Midna looked disappointed at him, and responded "Oh, didn't I do a very good job?"

Link had no idea what Midna was talking about, so he repeated himself.

"Who were they??"

Midna let out another giggle, and gleefully chuckled, "They were who I thought your parents would look like. Was I close?"

Midna had never seen Link's face fall so quickly, as he turned morbidly and continued to walk away, despite Midna's calls.

"Link? What's wrong? Link!?"

Link ignored her and kept walking hurriedly, and Midna realised what she'd done wrong.

"Oh… Sorry Link! I didn't know about your parents! I swear!"

Link continued to walk.

"Link! You don't have to talk about it or anything! Just forget I said anything!"

Link ignored Midna, and she let her temper rise as well.

"Link! I order you as my current servant to return here to your master!"

Link paused for a moment, then continued walking.

Midna crossed her arms in a huff and screamed after him, "Fine, keep going! Just see how far you can get without my help! Ilia and Colin and everyone else can die for all I care!"

These words seemed to faze Link, as he hung his head before turning around and walking back towards Midna, who had her eyes closed expecting an apology.

"I'm sorry I annoyed you Link, but you can't just-"

Midna was interrupted by Link's hand shooting up around her throat and pinning her against a nearby tree. Midna looked up to see Link shaking with anger, with tears clinging to his eyes. His hand was turning blue from Midna's cold touch, but he didn't care.

"Never, EVER talk about my friends like that! If it weren't for your stupid Twilight world, this wouldn't have even happened! Without 'your help' I would still be herding goats peacefully! All you've done is make fun of me constantly, make me steal things from my friends, and boss me around! I don't need someone here to remind me that I'm the worst ever incarnation of the Hero of Time, that my parents are dead, and that for all I now, my friends have joined them!"

Link's voice faltered as tears fell freely from his eyes and he slowly started to feel the chilling pain of touching Midna. For the first time since meeting him, Midna was scared of Link. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain caught up to Link as he dropped the Twilight princess and let out a small yell as he clutched his hand in agony. Midna fell to the ground and spluttered for air, before slowly standing up. Link was sat down with his back turned, and she didn't know whether to approach him or not. She decided to take the risk, and slowly walked towards him and sat besides him. She poked his frozen hand and muttered quietly, "I can heal that if you really want…"

Link turned his tear-stained face towards her's and uttered an almost inaudible "Thank you" before letting her take his hand and stroke it, each stroke making it slightly warmer. Midna opened her mouth to say sorry for a few things, but Link beat her to it.

"I… I really didn't mean for that to happen… I'm really sorry if I hurt you Midna."

Luckily, Midna seemed forgiving while stroking his hand.

"It's ok. I understand that you must be feeling a bit stressed. And for the record, I really am sorry for bringing up your parents."

Link turned to her again, but saw not an ally, but a friend. And friends were honest with each other.

"I wasn't even mad about that… I just… I don't think I'm ready… everything's happening so quickly."

"That's understandable, I… wait. What do you mean 'you're not ready'?

For a split second, Link considered lying or changing the subject, but he was going to be completely honest from now on.

"I'm not ready to be the hero of time! I've been herding goats, not practising fighting. I haven't had training… my old sword was just plain wood! I was… I was getting hurt in the dungeons and losing against the boss and I thought, 'A true hero of time wouldn't have trouble with these sorts of obstacles.' I'm beginning to think you were right the whole time…"

"Right? About what?"

"When you called me a fool or an idiot. I'm not the hero of time, I'm just some kid. I don't think I can do this, Midna…"

"Link, no! I didn't mean it like that. That's just my way of talking. I never really doubted in your abilities, Link. You took out that first boss pretty well! It's not everyone who can do that!"

"That was luck. I was doomed until that monkey showed up and gave me some bomb-insects."

Midna had a strange idea, but if it could have worked, it was worth a try.

"Listen, Link. I'm pretty powerful in the Twilight world. About as powerful as Zelda, I'd say."

Link was listening, but didn't see the point, so Midna continued.

"When you grabbed me, I really did try to get out, but I couldn't. You weren't even that angry, and you still had enough courage to stand up to me. You're a lot more powerful than you think you are, Link. You ARE the chosen one, the hero of time. It's all up to you."

Link paused for a few moments and took in all that Midna had said, before he wiped his last tears away and stood up slowly, saying, "You were right, Colin and Ilia aren't going to save themselves. Let's go."

Midna smiled as she floated next to him and muttered, "Right you are, hero." But Link stopped her. "Don't call me a hero. Just call me a friend."

Link and Midna exchanged a smile before Midna chuckled, "Come on then, friend. You've got a world to save."


End file.
